Abstract. "Space" may take many different significations of which, however, two are
paramount for human geography: Space as a part of the world with specific
characteristics and with activities located in or on it (object-space), and
space as a frame of reference, used to locate and thereby order the
relations among persons, things, activities and immaterial items (space as
locational scheme). This paper argues that, from the viewpoint of an
observer, every object-space presupposes a locational scheme, but not vice
versa. Spaces as locational schemes are discussed as instruments, which
individuals and organizations use to co-ordinate their activities.
Therefore, space is a constitutive element of the reproduction of the social
and is not something external to the social, as most geographies and social
theories would have it. Under modern conditions, it is, above all, the
meta-institution of the state that has the power to define interpretative
schemes, thereby constituting entities and controlling their interactions.
The discussion of the mutual constitution of spaces and institutions reveals
that, from a methodological point of view, in the end the analysis of space,
society and power coalesce. By disclosing the constitutive conditions of
institutions and power structures, the analysis of spaces as locational
schemes turns out to also be a deconstructive practice.